Gundam Symphony of the ages
by millenium-writer
Summary: History was once described as an Endless Waltz. The three beats of War, Peace, and Revolution that would continue on forever. Now, the final movement of that waltz is beginning.
1. Soft opening notes

Gundam Symphony.

Final movement of a three beat waltz.

In the year After Colony 235, peace is slowly drawing to an end.

More than a hundered and thirty years after Mariemeia Khushrenada's military coup d'etat, and the destruction of all mobile suits, humanity is once again moving towards another sad chapter of mankind.

After the successful terraforming of mars, chiefly thanks to Zechs Merquise and Lucrezia Noin, another wave of space colonys were constructed, farther spreading mankind across the solar system.

In AC 229, a five year plan was formed to begin another terraforming project. The plan outlined the expansive and costly proposal to adjust the orbit and axis of planet Venus to a similar alignment of Earth's.

The proposal was met with near unanimous approval.

However, several corperations voted against the forming of another humanity friendly planet. Not only would it cut into their tight hold on several key tradelanes, it would also bring new resources, lowering prices across the ESM alliance.

The Earth-Space-Mars alliance continued on despite the objections of a few trade companys, no matter how tightly they had consolidated their power.

Thus, project 'Altar of Venus' went ahead as planned.

Five years and over fourty thousand hours of around the clock work later, another planet swung into a more habitatable orbit.

And life in the solar system changed.

For the worse.

-

"C'mon Eric! We're gonna be late! Let's go!"

Hopping over the low stone wall surrounding the small yard of the Horatio family home, a teenaged boy of middling height hooked the thumb of one hand into his pocket, and flicked his shoulder length green hair with the other. "Rush rush rush, where's all the fun in that?" Ignoring the various moans and groans from his friends, Eric picked up the pace a little.

It wasn't every day that the circus came to town.

-

Z00-003 was the third colony in orbit at the legrange point around Venus. In celebration of the soon to be habitable planet, the virgin colonys were inviting various attractions.

Everyone had long since forgotten the name of the circus, so it was simply refered to as 'the Circus'. As was the current head of the affair, who insisted he simply be called 'Manager', claiming that it was tradition for the title to go along with the job.

Today, Manager was prowling about the assigned grounds cleared for the Circus, making sure everyone was ready and able to perform to their utmost.

Even the animals.

"Alissa, have you fed the animals today?" Manager leaned over to comb his gloved fingers through Henry's tawny fur. Henry was one of the star attractions, children allways gathered around to see a 'real live lion'.

Alissa looked up, a girl with thick brown hair and a petite figure, was one of the show's best tumblers. Stroking Sheena's muzzle, she nodded. "I even fed Henry twice today, but they've all been restless, ever since we set up here."

Nodding sagely, Manager stroked his moustache, sniffing the air. "They assured me that there were no chemical leaks of any kind for kilometers." Glancing upward, he stared at the 'sky', past a few puffy clouds, at the rest of the colony streched along the interior walls. "Perhaps it's simply the difference in pressure, the animals are very sensative to that sort of thing." He mused, twirling the corner of his mustache.

"Maybe..." Alissa didn't sound very convinced, and focused her attention on smoothing Sheena's fur out. Sheena was a five hundered pound she-lion with the temperment of a lap cat, she loved being stroked and having her fur brushed.

"Nervous about opening night?" There was a faint gleam in Manager's eyes.

"N-no! Not at all!" Flushing, Alissa lowered her head, hunching her shoulders to hide her face.

"Good, I'd hate for my star acrobat to have to miss the biggest show of the decade because of opening night jitters." Hiding a smile behind his hand, Manager glided off, away from the lion cage, deciding that he had teased the girl enough, and thinking that the jugglers could use a good scare to loosen them up.

-

Red lights flashed all around him. Sirens blared harshly in his ears. A trickle of sweat ran down his nose as he held the flight controls in a white knuckle grip. "You won't take me down that easy!" Stomping down on both foot pedals, he directed his war machine towards his opponent's, twisting a flight stick to bring his battle hammer down in a crushing, and decisive blow.

The light vertical tank darted aside at the last moment, and his weapon struck nothing but air. Growling to himself, he regretted choosing such a heavy battle machine. It was built to end a battle quickly, and therefore, was rather slow to maneuver, and now it was working against him.

Another volley of light lasers rocked his cockpit, and the damage display on his HUD turned from orange to red. His opponent was in a much lighter machine, a recon unit, suited for minimal combat at best.

And he was making a fool out of him.

Swinging around his ponderous machine, he thumbed a pair of buttons, sending a wave of medium missiles after the elusive recon unit. "Try squirming out of that!" He crowed triumphantly, shifting his war machine to close in for the kill. That would show this dreck, he was the _best_, not some amatuer.

"Big mistake."

The recon unit danced to the side, multiple puffs of thruster exaust spurted from it's flight pack, pushing it safely past the oncoming warheads. Shoulder mounted light missles launched in a small cluster from it's launch packs, and slammed into the chest of the heavy warmech as it closed the distance.

With no room to evade, the heavy machine shuddered, rocked, and toppled over. More alarms blared, loud and harsh as the damage display went completely red. Bright light flooded the cockpit, then winked out, leaving him shrouded in darkness. His powerplant had taken a direct hit and overloaded, obliterating his machine.

He was dead.

"Damn, damn, dammit!" With an audible hiss, the seal on his cockpit broke, letting a wave of fresh air in, and Vertical Tank Pilot champion Tony Martin climbed out of the game simulator. How could he lose? He was the best there was, how could he lose? He had won the finals on Mars, cleared the pitiful slop on Earth, who could have beaten him?

A loud whoop caught his attention, it came from the direction of the other gaming simulator pod.

"So did I win?" Flicking his green hair away from his face, Eric gave the crowd a casual thumbs up and flashed them a smile. "Enjoy the show folks?"

Tony didn't recognise him, whoever this punk was, he hadn't been in any of the competition finals.

"D'ya know who you just beat Eir?" Resident techhead of the group of friends, Gene Gatt didn't look the part. Sporting a leather jacket and a shock of bright orange hair, he looked more like he belonged to a local biker gang, than a friendly and helpful guy. He was allways ontop of all the gaming info, from system specs to tourny info, he memorized it all.

"A fifteen year old with delusions of grandeur?" Waving to the crowd of people cheering for him still, he smiled easily at the mix of strangers and local students.

"Vertical Tank Pilot system champion Tony Martin."

The arcade went real quiet, real fast.

"Say again?" Eric cocked his head to the side, a bit surprised.

"Tony Martin." Gene had a big goofy smile on his face. He had allways known Eric was better than he thought he was, and insisted it often too, but the guy allways chalked it up to luck or an off day for the other guy.

"Well, maybe he was just having a bad day." Combing his fingers through his hair, Eric smiled and waved at the crowd again, this time shooing them away.

"You allways say that Eir, one of these days you'll get a clue." Gene leaned against the simulator pod, shaking his head at his friend. "Did you see where the rest of the gang got to?"

"I was in the gaming pod Gene, how could I see where they went?"

"Well I me-"

"They headed off to see the Circus, said they'd meet us outside of the arcade at fourteen hundered hours."

"You jerk, you get a kick out of making people feel guilty, don't you?"

"Robots can feel guilt?"

Mock-growling, Gene punched Eric on the shoulder. "Robots can get pissed off too. C'mon, let's get something to eat."

Rubbing his shoulder, Eric turned to walk away, glancing back towards the second gaming pod. "Hey, did you see where that Tony guy got to?"

Turning around, Gene scanned the area. "Nope, guess he just slunk off to hide in shame."

"Oh stop."

Seething quietly, Tony clenched his hands into fists. His entire body trembled with supressed rage as he glared at Eric. Nobody beat him at anything.

Nobody.

-

The communication line bleeped, hissed with static, then clicked open, filling the air with the faint buzz that suggested a great distance between the two transcever units.

"Yes?" The voice was silky smooth, allmost oily.

"I've changed my mind, I'll do it."

"Oh, you will, will you?" He could _hear_ the smile in his voice, the tone suggesting that the man was _very_ satisfied.

"Yes, but my fee is double your offer, no less."

"Ah, you are a hard man to buy." The voice sounded no less satisfied, perhaps even more so now than before.

"I'm the best."

"Indeed you are."

"So we have a deal?"

"Under one condition."

"Name it."

"Tell me what made you change your mind."

"Revenge."

"I see." A pause. "A noble goal."

-

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to personally attend this meeting." She was a tall woman, nearly six feet tall and slender. Not a woman one would expect to be the head of such a large project. She possesed a long mane of pale blonde hair, and sharp cheekbones unsuited for a face that spent much of it's time with a wide, cheerful smile that never quite seemed to reach her eyes.

"For those of you who left their aides at home..." There was a faint murmer of laughter from the gathered people, mostly men in business suits, but there were several women as well. "My name is Amera Vasil, and I am the project lead of this terraforming operation."

Gesturing to the tech seated at the back of the room, Amera stepped aside and turned to look at the monitor that streched the full length of the wall. An image of a mostly blue and green planet flickered with static for a moment, then steadied, revealing a few specks of ugly mustard-yellow. "Project Alter of Venus." There were quiet murmers, some of approval, some of annoyance, since they had all seen the planet many times over for themselves over the past five years.

"The planet is at ninety-eight percent of projected values, more than within the buffer zone alloted when this project was conceved." Pausing for a moment, Amera turned to gaze at the slowly rotating image on the screen. Shaking her head to jar loose a stray thought, she returned to attention to the waiting project members. "In two days time, the E.S.M. alliance will be holding a celebration on it's surface." Gesturing at the tech again, a new image appeared onscreen. "The three colonys in orbit will be celebrating the project completion for the next two days, and in particular, Z00-003, has managed to hire the elusive 'Circus'." There was another faint murmer, the Circus was known for it's reluctance to stay in a particular place for very long.

"Given the- um..." Amera halted, staring at the unfamilar face being projected into the upper right corner of the display.

"Apologies Ma'am." The uniformed man saluted, touching his fingertips to his right temple. "Security operator Davins, third shift."

"What can I do for you security operator Davins, third shift?" Her tone was light, and not a little mocking. The irritation that crept into her voice was absent on her face.

"Sorry again Ma'am, but there is an unscheduled transport on an inbound vector for the no-fly zone." Next to Davins face, a second screen appeared, displaying an image of space and an oncoming vessal. Thin red lines, obviously projected by computer, displayed the no-fly zone surrounding the planet. "The ship's transponder identifies her as the Circumference." A pause, and several more lines appeared onscreen, blue text in blocky form, displaying the ships speed, inbound vector, estimated cargo capacity, and other various bits of information.

"Have you contacted them Davins?"

"Yes Ma'am, no reply." A third image winked into existance on the massive wall display. A colony. "Their vector carrys them dangerously close to Z00-003, and- just a moment." Davins gaze dropped, his shoulders swaying slightly as he furiously typed away at his station, computing the ship's heading and the drift of the colony, matching that of Venus' orbit. "Ma'am, they've just altered course, their new heading brings them around Z00-003, just barely, and into an orbit passing the other two colonys."

A murmer swept across the room, growing in volume as faint panic began to settle into it's tone.

"The transport is opening it's cargo doors..." Alarm crept into the security operator's voice. "Several small transports and a number of unidentified objects are deploying, heading straight for the colony."

Amera stared at the screen, her face a study in passive observation. "Terrorists?" The babble filling the room dropped sharply in volume, then died away alltogether.

"I think so Ma'am, shall I contact the E.S.M. alliance?" Davins was still typing away, alerting several energancy shifts onto duty. A furrow worked it's way into his brow. He sent the orders along a different pathway through the system. That didn't work either. He punched in the failsafe code incase of catastrophic systems failure, still nothing. "Ma'am, our network is down."

"The failsa-"

"Down too Ma'am, we've been sabotaged."

One of the project members stood. "Do you mean to say that we have no way to contact anyone outside of this station?"

"I'm afraid not Sir."

-

Just outside of Z00-003, the dozens of objects that had seperated from the Circumference moved towards the colony's docking hatch, supplying the codes nessisary to open the bay doors. Automated systems recorded the arriving ship's images and opened the doors, allowing them entry. The system logged a new ship into it's databanks for future reference.

The ship was made to fly upright, and was scanned in at a height of sixteen point two meters tall. Painted olive drab and loaded down with several heavy weapons, it would be listed under the military section of the database. Thermal sensors picked up an overpowered energy production system for the vessel's size, and a single pilot. The ship was sending a transponder code, and it was recorded as well.

OP-FREE-01A-MS-1/100-UNIT10.

-

"Operation Freedom, first model, first revision, Mobile Suit. One out of one hundered, tenth unit." There was a pause as the owner of the voice took a drink of very expensive mineral water. "I doubt any of them will understand the designation, or the meaning behind the transport's name. The Circumferance." A chuckle. "What goes around, comes around."

-

"So, what did you get?" Gene mumbled around a mouthful of curry rice, he loved spicey food, and was frequently making his friends try it, much to their later regret.

Picking up a rounded clump of fish wrapped with rice, Eric grinned. "Sushi." Popping the morsel into his mouth, he chewed with relish.

Gene made a disgusted face and pushed his plate away. "I'm done." He watched his friend continue to chew, shuddered, and looked at a small group of people playing a ring toss game. "How can you eat that stuff? I mean, it's raw fish."

"Not all sushi is raw, and besides, you know my mother never lets me have anything foreign." Popping another bite into his mouth, Eric leaned into Gene's field of view, and chewed exagerately.

"Guaaahhh, knock it off Eir!" Halfheartedly shoving Eric away, Gene got up and grabbed his plate. "I'm gonna go get a drink, want anything?"

"Nah."

Shrugging, Gene dumped his plated into a trashcan and wandered off to find a vending machine.

Gulping down another forbidden bite, Eric sighed with no small amount of pleasure and stared up at the sky, it was a beautiful day. "If only those games would quiet down a little... Wait." Eric cocked his head, the arcade was a long ways away from the consession area, why did it sound like someone was playing a Vertical Tank Pilot game nearby?

A trio of olive drab painted figures flew overhead, and Eric gaped.

Dozens more followed the first three, flying much lower, buzzing the Circus, drawing gasps from the crowd below. Hundereds of teenagers drew the same conclusion as Eric had. Those machines were Vertical Tanks.

The colony was being invaded.

-

Well, here it is, my attempt to continue on with my favorite Gundam series, the After Colony era. Questions and comments are welcome. The first person (if anyone even tries.) to correctly identify the model of Mobile Suit used in this chapter will win something. Win what? That's a secret. You have to play to win.


	2. Flourish for the duet

In the year After Colony 335, peace is about to come to an abrupt end.

Mobile suits, once an omni-present force throughout space, had been completely wiped from existence by after colony 196. Mankind had finally evolved past the need for such destructive weapons to settle it's troubles.

Now, as the induction of a new habitable planet rises to the forefront of mankind's attention, war is about to come crashing down upon that fragile peace.

**Gundam Symphony**

**And the beginning of the end.**

Towering above the people gathered about the circus grounds, dozens of mobile suits touched down with rumbling thuds that shook the colony 'ground' for miles. Painted in olive drab, bearing a shield on it's left arm, and an appropriately sized machine gun on the right, each mobile suit looked utterly terrifying up close.

"What are those things?"

"Vertical Tanks?"

"From the simulator game?"

"No way, it's gotta be a promotional thing."

"That big ass gun looks real enough to me."

"Why are they here?"

For a few terrifyingly long heartbeats, the massive engines of destruction stood motionless and silent. Then, raising it's foot, one of the mobile suits slammed it down hard enough to tear into the colony 'ground' and send the crowd to their collective knees.

"This is Knife One Alpha, commander of unit ten, currently in charge of 'Operation Freedom'." The mobile suit withdrew it's leg from the hole it had rent, and stood fully upright again. The artificial sunlight made the gilded crests along it's shoulders and chest glimmer and shine. "We are hereby freeing this colony from the tyrany of it's oppressive dictatorship. The ESM alliance will no longer force you to obey it's crushing conformity, and cumbersome laws."

-

"Dictatorship?"

Amera Vasil folded her arms over her stomach as she stared at the display screen. In one corner, security operator Davins was frantically working to unblock any of the communication systems. The rest of the screen centered on the colony-wide broadcast.

_This is the first I've heard of any complaints about the government from a military unit. Strange that they haven't announced a name for them to go by, or made any demands to the government itself._

-

"For too long The ESM alliance has had it's citizens bear the weight of their cruel yoke, toiling away to line their greedy pockets with silver and gold."

-

"Since when have we been living in a mining camp? That would be a terrible attraction, and make the lion tamer miserable." The Manager stroked his pointed beard thoughfully, seeming as calm and collected as he had always been. "Better make sure none of the animal cages have rattled loose. I'd hate to have to explain to someone's next of kin as to why they became Henry's pre-lunch snack."

Turning away from the staggered line of metal giants, Manager turned to the animal trainers. "Well? Get a move on. Alissa, why dont you... Vanish into thin air?" Sighing, Manager looked about for a moment. "Would somebody check the ladies room please?"

-

"This is nuts." Eric had gone tearing off the instant he had realized it was some sort of attack force. _Nobody ever comes to celebrate with a one oh five em em machine gun._ Skidding to a stop, he carefully inched his way towards the communication center for the area. His father worked in a similar set up, halfway up the colony's surface, down spin of the circus.

Inching closer to the open doorway, he held his breath, trying to ignore his heart knocking against his chest. _Just like the games. The OpFor techs head straight for communications and hijack it. That's how they're getting the signal spread out over the colony's PA systems._Taking an agonizingly slow breath through his nose, he carefully tilted his head, until one eye was peering around the doorframe.

Inside, a half dozen men were looking at the display screen. Two of them were dressed in some sort of military uniform, the others were clad in dark blue utility jumpsuits.

_Four tech specialists, two guards._ Eric tilted his head back behind cover. _Those guards have machineguns, and I have my... Housekeys, crap._ Wincing, he slowly let his breath hiss out between his lips, and began tilting his head over once more to observe. _No way I can take any of them out before they shoot me, even if I did have a gun._

Thunk!

"What was that?"

_Crap! Wait, that wasn't me..._

"Hold it! Who're you?"

"You're not th-"

Crack!

"Hey! Stop her! Open fi-"

Bang!

Feeling his heart hitch in his chest, Eric tilted his head the rest of the way over to see what was happening.

Bang!

Just in time to see the second guard slump to the ground, a crimson stain blossoming on his chest. "N-no! Wait! We're not armed! Do-"

Bangbangbangbang!

_Oh god..._Feeling his lungs freeze solid, Eric stared with wide eyes at the carnage. He felt bile tickle the back of his throat, and fought to keep his lunch down. "Ghhk-gluk!" Clapping a hand over his mouth, he struggled to keep the wet tide of his stomach contents from spilling onto the ground.

Over the hammering of his heartbeat in his ears, he could barely hear the scuff of a boot against the ground. An instant later, and a flat black barrel was pressing against his cheek, just above his fingers clamped over his mouth.

"Who are you?" Soft brown eyes stared at him from a face that was sharp boned and delicate looking. Clad in white pants, a navy jacket with gold tinted braids along the shoulder, and a matching wedge cap pulled down to cover her hair, she had the harsh air of a cold blooded killer about her.

_An Officer's uniform? In the field?_"Glck..." Eric gurgled around the mouthful of half digested food, feeling another wave of nausea hit him in the gut, and he fought against the overwhelming urge to keel over and heave.

"... Over there." The woman stepped back and gestured with the pistol. "Do it in those bushes, and be quiet about it."

Staggering over, Eric dropped to his knees, and tore his hand from his face. He retched and coughed until nothing more would come, and heaved a few more times even after he was empty. Finally, he raised his head a little, feeling weak and dizzy.

"Here." A cloth was thrust at his face. "Wipe, then stand, slowly."

Doing as he was directed, he finally stood and looked at the vomit smeared cloth. It was dark blue, and stained red on one ragged edge. "Urk." He felt his stomach boil up again, but after a few heaves, nothing came. Breathing shallow gasps of air, he let the cloth drop from his numbed fingers, and turned to look at the woman. "Why'd you kill them?"

She stared long and hard at him, before clicking the safety on the pistol. "They were in my way."

Staring blankly at the gun she held, he dimly realized that reality was nothing like a game. "Who are you?" It wouldn't matter in a few seconds, but he needed to ask anyways.

"..." Pointing with the pistol, she gestured for him to move into the communication center. "Get in there."

Nodding weakly, Eric held up his hands and slowly walked into the center. His stomach felt like an empty pit, and somewhere in the back of his brain, one thought continued to flash like a damaged display. _I'm going to die._ Over, and over, and over again.

"Stop." There was a scuff of boot against metal, and a pair of lips brushed his ear. "Do I excite you?"

His breath hitched in his throat. _Oh god, I'm dealing with a psychopath._ His lungs iced up, and it felt like a hand was squeezing his stomach, twisting up his insides.

The cool feeling of metal being pressed against his cheek returned, and the breathy voice continued. "Do one little favor for me, and I'll let you do anything you want. _Anything_."

At any other point in his teenaged life, Eric would probably have jumped at the chance. Clenching his teeth, he turned around, and said what he expected to be his last words. "I'd rather die." _That was it, I'm a corpse now for sure._

Doe-like, the girl's brown eyes widened in surprise. The pistol lowered a fraction of an inch, and she stared at him, puzzled. "You... Don't want me?" Her voice wavered a little, confusion creeping into her voice. "You're supposed to agree. It's an offer you can't refuse."

Eric stared blankly back at the girl. _Rookie field agent? Maybe life is more like a game than I thought._ Swallowing, Eric shook his head. "Only stupid people fall for a line like that." He glanced down at her pistol. "You're obviously going to kill me."

The girl shook her head. "Standing orders, no civilians are to be harmed. Secondary orders are to..." She trailed off, eyes glazing over for a moment. Expression hardening, she leveled the pistol, pressing the barrel to his forehead. "You're an agent. You're trying to trick me into giving away my orders."

Feeling his heart perform jumping-jacks in his chest, Eric tried to swallow, but the sight of most of a handgun in his face froze him solid. "N-no... I just live here. You told me everything on your own." _If I wasn't dead before..._

Again, the puzzled expression, and again, the pistol lowered. "But, but I-" Her expression hardened. "Shut up. He's in the way, he needs to be delt with."

"I... Didn't say any-"

Her expression softened. "I'm not very good with computers, it's impossible to-" The pistol snapped up again, pressing hard against Eric's forehead. "Shut up! He's a distraction. I'll figure out how to deal with the machine myself."

A high-pitched burst of static cut the air, making both of them wince.

Flipping the lapel of her collar up, the girl thumbed a flat, fat little device pinned to the corner of the lapel. "Secure, go."

A low, feminine voice drifted from the little lapel pin. "Mission priority change; secure the civilian, have him assist with current objective, and escort him to your extraction point. Exfiltration for two in one hour. Copy?"

"Copy." Lowering the gun, the girl stared at him, her eyes roving up and down his body for a moment. Frowning, she pressed herself against him. "Get in the way, or try to run, and I'll kill you, got it?"

"Uh... Yes?" He swallowed, not liking the turn his life had suddenly taken.

Her expression softened, and a hand pressed against his chest, stroking his collarbone though his shirt. "You're doing it wrong. You need to be nice if you want to get them to like you." A hint of a smile flickered across her lips. "You like me, don't you?"

"Uh... Yes?"

Frowning, she pushed him away. "I don't have time to worry about that." She pointed at one of the consoles, a hard look in her eyes. "Get over there and operate that station."

Moving in a daze, Eric walked over and sat down at the station. His hands rested lightly on the input board as he stared at the screen. The display was familiar, but two windows tinted in blue lettering were foreign to his eyes. _Custom program windows. Somebody whipped this up without using the standard colony communication interface._

"What are those?" The muzzle of her pistol tapped against the screen.

"Hey!" He pushed the gun away with the back of his hand, buffing the screen with the sleeve of his shirt. "You'll scratch the screen like that." Frowning, he inspected the surface for a moment, then leaned back in the seat. "They're custom programs. They don't come standard with the colony interface."

A pair of breasts pushed against his back, and a breathy voice tickled his ear. "How can you tell?"

_This is intolerable. Either she's a schizo, or I'm dealing with MPD. God help me._"The font is unique. Blue isn't normally used in program windows either. Green is the norm, and the font standard is Arial." He tapped a command into the control board, and a new window popped up, framed in green. "See? This is what it usually looks like."

"Ah." Leaning closer, she examined the program windows. "So, you know a lot about these-" Her voice hardened. "Nevermind that. What do the programs do?" She leaned closer, pressing her chest flat against his back.

"Ugh..." _It's hard enough to focus with her oddballing like she does, but leaning against me..._ "One's a command override, it kind of opens a doorway for another system to access the colony interface. The second..." He tapped a few keys on the control board. "It's a comm relay. That's how they're broadcasting."

"Disable it."

"What?" He tried to twist around to face her. "Are you kidd-"

She snaked an arm around his waist, holding him where he was. "Priority is to disable communications." Her cheek had pressed against Eric's when he tried to turn around, and she made no attempt to move away.

Sighing, Eric realized that there would be no discussion. "I'll see what I can do." He tapped commands into the control board. "Standard commands aren't working. I tried tracing the program to a local workstation. What I got instead was a comm dish."

"That means they're outside."

"Yeah. I can power down the dish, but they'll probably just use another." _And if they do gain access again, they'll probably put on an access blocker so the same trick won't work again._

"Shut down the dish network."

"What?"

"Shut down the entire network, and they won't be able to connect again." There was a pause. "Right?"

"Yeah, but then we won't be able to call for help either."

"Not our problem. Our extraction unit will send a report. Shut it down, now."

"Alright, but I'd better not be the one to get blamed for this." _Knowing my luck, and considering how today's going, I'll bet I will anyway._He tapped in a rapid string of commands. "Cutting power to the dish network. I'll put a command route and code on it, so that this will be the only board they can repower the dish with. They'll have to do it manually, and there's no way they'll be able to do that if I pull the connection unit and the interface from the-"

"Are you done?"

"Well, yes. I just need to open the- hey!"

Yanking Eric from the seat, the girl put her gun to the top of the command board, and fired three rounds into the machine.

"What the hell! Are you _trying_ to blow up the both of us, or just me?"

"Be quiet." Straightening up, she hauled Eric to his feet, holding him against her. "Be thankful, I just saved you the trouble of fooling around in there."

"Gee, thanks for almost blowing my face off."

"Just move. Exfiltration is in ten minutes.

-

"Rejoice! For today, your frrrreeeeee..." With a deep bass rumble, the colony-wide broadcast system went silent.

It was the calm before the storm.


	3. Clarinet and French Horn harmony

**Gundam Symphony**

Soft notes, before the bass rumbles.

"Status report."

"The communications relay has been cut. The techs outside report that the dish network is down."

A prickle of heat started to work it's way up his back. "And our men on the inside? What do they say?"

"There's no response. They've probably been captured."

"Dammit!" Slamming his fist down on his console, the man going by the callsign Knife One Alpha ground his teeth in frustration. "I thought security had been taken care of." Lifting his fist to smash his display, he took a deep breath and lowered his arm. "...What's the report from our units on the outside?"

"No indication that anyone has made any attempts to escape the colony."

"Good, good." Flipping a few switches, Knife One Alpha stared at the text flowing over his display. "Order the ground assault troops to deploy and take control of the colony's population." Frowning, he settled back into his seat, shoulder restraints creaking as the tension he'd put on them eased. _Soon, soon we'll be the ones running the show. The military will be back in power, and we'll make those politicians realize what a hell it is to be reduced to a puppet state_. A shark-like smile swept across his mouth as he waited for the reports to come in.

"Remind me again, why is this preferable to being shot?" Eric sat on a park bench, feeling rather uncomfortable. His day had started out so well too. A trip to the fabled Circus with his friends, a quick game of Vertical Tank Pilot, forbidden sushi for lunch.

"Because I'll shoot your legs off and leave you to die if you don't stop complaining." The psychotic girl had changed clothes to something more casual, tight shorts and a sleeveless, knitted, zippered top, and was clinging to Eric's arm in a loving sort of way.

That made him sick to his stomach. If he'd needed to form a top ten list of girls he'd like to have hanging off of him, she'd be number three hundred and one, right after a dead prostitute. "My arm's starting to go numb."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She eased up her hold, and started to lightly stroke his arm. "Does that make it feel better?" She looked up at him with those wide, doe-like brown eyes of hers.

"Uh, yeah, a little." Making an uncomfortable sort of noise, he looked away for a moment, then turned back to face her. _Might as well stare down the barrel of the gun, looking away won't change anything_. "Why the flip-flops?"

"...The... Flip-flops?"

"The weird changes in personality? You act like two different people are riding in your head."

Her expression hardened. "Because there are two people in this head."

"Uhh..." A little startled, he recoiled. Rather, he tried to recoil, but the tightening of her grip on his arm held him fast. _Split personality confirmation. Swell_. "Well can you at least tell me your names then? It's really confusing talking to two people with the same face, and no way to explain which one I'm talking to."

"Well, my name is Alissa." Soft brown eyes matched an equally soft smile, clearly, this was the gentler one of the two. "And her name is Wren, of the-"

"That's enough. He doesn't need to know who we're working for."

"But I was only-"

"Be silent. We don't know if there are enemy field agents deployed out here." Squaring her shoulders a little, Wren leaned in on Eric's side, clinging a little too lovingly. "All we need to do is sit tight until our exfiltration window arrives, and make our escape."

"... Hey."

"What?" Wren squeezed Eric's arm once, to let him know who was addressing him.

"Would a twenty meter tall Vertical Tank throw that plan into the fire?"

"Possibly. It would depend on the detection capabilities of the pilot, and the weaponry it mounted."

"... A one oh five em em machine gun, a discus-style shield on the left arm, and what looks like sensor radomes concealed in the shoulder plating."

Wren frowned, leaning a little more into Eric's side. "A one hundred and five millimeter? The penetration values on those are rated at-"

"Just yes or no."

"Yes. A machine like that could easily destroy our-"

"Well then we're very screwed." Pointing with his free hand, Eric shrugged his other shoulder a few times to get the girl to look.

Stepping around an apartment complex, an olive drab painted Vertical Tank was slowly stomping it's way towards their position. Clearly, it was going to make sure nobody in the park was going anywhere any time soon.

"Lock-down duty." Wren frowned. "If it's only the one, we should be able to avoid it."

"Don't be silly, we would still have to keep any other machines from stopping our escape." Alissa sighed and rested her head against Eric's shoulder, closing her eyes. "We'd need heavy infantry backup, and we don't have any at all."

Wren opened her eyes, watching the towering machine thud closer. "But we could hijack that one, and use it against the other units."

"But I can't pilot such a thing and neither can you." Alissa sighed again, snuggling closer to Eric.

"... I can."

"What?" Wren sat up straight, turning her head to stare at Eric out of the corner of her eye.

"I can pilot a VT. Just get me inside without getting it or me shot up, and I should be able to run it, no problem." Eric's gaze was fixed on the armored machine, his mind racing. _One oh five em em machine gun, but no obvious missile racks. It's got to be a lighter, scout-type unit, so it should be faster than its actual weight class. Only the gun for offense, but at least the shield makes up in the defensive area. I could do this._

Opening the cockpit of the massive machine, the pilot stood up and stepped out onto the boarding platform, stretching. "Aaahh. These stupid mobile suits are too cramped for a big guy like me." Sighing, the pilot scratched himself and looked out over the park he was guarding. "Stupid civilians, such a pain in the-"

"You don't look so big from where I'm standing."

The pilot whirled around, just in time to notice the pistol barrel as it tapped against his forehead.

Bang!

The lifeless body toppled off of the platform, falling nearly ten meters in a graceless tumble that ended with a bone crushing thud.

"...It's clear." Turning around, Wren crouched to reach down and haul Eric up onto the platform. Without giving him a chance to comment, she shoved him into the cockpit with grim efficiency. "Shut the hatch."

"Let me get in the damn seat first." Fussing, Eric turned around and slid into the pilot's chair, quickly snapping on the restraints. Looking around for a moment, he tapped a button, and the hatch slowly closed. "Ok, we're- HEY!"

Sliding into Eric's lap, Wren stuffed the pistol into her waistband after clicking on the safety. "Quiet, there's nowhere else for me to sit."

Grumbling, Eric took a moment to familiarize himself with the control system. "Twin-stick main controls, dual foot pedal design for thrust... Windowed multi-HUD. Manual operations switches and a fold-away control board of the alphanumeric style." _This is exactly the same as the Vertical Tank Pilot __game. What the hell is going on? Did... Is the VT Pilot game a glorified training simulator for this thing?_

"Can you handle this?"

"Y-yeah. It's exactly like the VT Pilot game. Everything. Right down to the last detail." Eric frowned and disengaged the safety locks, cycling power to the drive systems with a few button pushes and switch flicks. "The only thing that's missing is the place to put your cash card."

"We're only using this machine to secure our escape. Don't think you can use it to liberate the colony." Wren leaned back against Eric's chest. "You have no sup-"

"No support, no resupply, no backup. I couldn't do this alone, even if I had a heavy assault type unit." Eric frowned, making sure the comm system was set to passive receive only. "The thrust pack on this unit is a limited type. I wouldn't be able to turn fast enough to fight if I was surrounded."

"You know your stuff. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a sleeper agent." Squirming in Eric's lap, Wren tried to make herself comfortable. "Is it hot in here? I'm starting to feel itchy." Squirming a bit more, she adjusted the pistol resting in her waistband.

"I think these units were designed to work with a special flight suit. Hang on, I'll try upping the airflow a little." Clicking a switch overhead, Eric heard the cooling fans ramping up, blowing chilly air into the cockpit. "How's that?"

"Better." Tilting her head back, Wren could feel the air wash over her face. Unzipping the clingy knitted top she'd 'borrowed', she arched her back a little, letting the fans blow over her bare chest.

"H-hey! Do you mind sitting still?" Flustered, Eric tried to focus more on the display, and less on how the girl's top was sliding down her shoulders, exposing her bare back. _Oh man, no bra? That means, under those tight shorts, she's probably not wearing any- focus! Focus Eric! You could die any time now, if you're careless and distracted._ "This is hard enough to drive without the puppy in my lap."

"Puppy?" Looking over her shoulder, Alissa tilted her head to the side, top sliding down her biceps. "I'm more of a kitten than a dog, you know."

"Lapcats know how to sit still." Flicking a switch, Eric moved one of his hands to the control board as it folded down, tapping in a few commands. _I'll change the HUD color to green, it's easier on the eyes._ He glanced at the radar screen in the upper corner of the HUD. _All VT contacts are stationary. Good, that means we haven't been found out yet._

"If anything, I'm like a lion." Wren tilted her head back, resting it on one of Eric's shoulders. "Very fierce and proud." The top slid further down, spilling around her waist. She shifted a little, trying to find a comfortable position for the rest of her body.

"Hey, do you want to screw right here, in this thing right now?"

"What?" Wren's eyes widened, then narrowed as the words sank in. One hand snapped to the pistol tucked into her waistband. "I could kill you in-"

"Then sit still! It's hard enough driving as it is!" Chewing the inside of his cheek, Eric tapped another command into the board, trying very hard to concentrate on what he was doing. "I don't need you dry-humping me anymore than I need a bullet in the head."

With a blank expression on her face, Wren reached back, pressing a fingertip against the side of his head. "I could do both very easily. _Very_ easily."

"Well either shoot me or sit still." Eric tapped at the board again, and stopped chewing on his cheek, afraid that he might put a hole in it. _Chatter is low, so that's fine. I don't need to worry about sending false reports for the moment. Where's my exit now? The docking bay, right?_ "I can't focus with you squirming around."

Staring at him, Wren cupped her breasts, lifting them up. "Don't you find my body attractive?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." _I can't believe this. She has got to be the last girl in the universe I'd want to have this conversation with. Why can't she just shut up?_

"That wasn't an answer, that was an evasion." Staring at the HUD for a moment, she jabbed at an empty maintenance bay, off one of the large corridors leading to one of the many docking bays. "There, stop in there for now."

"Fine." He steered the VT into the bay, stopping it in a pool of deep shadow, behind a loading crane. _We can't go anywhere until her ride arrives, might as well sit out of sight and be safe._ "I'm shutting us down, try and hide any emissions that might give us away." He flipped a few switches, pressed a few buttons, turning off the machine. "Done, we're dark."

Turning over, Wren mashed her chest up against Eric's, coiling her arms around his neck.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Flinching, Eric tried to pull away, but was held in place by the seat restraints. _Damn harness! There's nowhere for me to go, even if I could move._

"We have five minutes until exfiltration." Smiling humorlessly, Wren pressed her slim body against the boy's chest. "I know you find me attractive, you can't look away."

"What else is there to look at? The wall?"

"You're not trying to get away anymore."

Eric thumped his hand against the pilot's chair. "I can't _get_ anywhere. Believe me, I've _tried_."

"You're interested in me." Wren let out a noise that was _supposed_ to sound like a purr. It was ment to draw attraction. "You _want_ my body."

It _terrified_ Eric. "I'm trapped in a very small cockpit, with a crazy girl who threatened to blow my brains out. I'm interested in staying alive, and I _want_ your body off of mine as soon as possible."

In reply, Wren clumsily mashed her lips over Eric's, drowning out a muffled protest. After a few seconds, she pulled away, a puzzled expression on her face. "... Did you feel anything?"

Stunned for a moment, Eric stared at her. "Yeah, I felt my balls try and crawl up inside of me for safety."

"... I didn't feel anything." Sitting back on Eric's lap, she frowned. "I thought it was supposed to feel good."

Aghast, Eric continued to stare at her. "What the hell made you think that?"

"Everyone I've watched performing... Reproduction, kissed before, during, and after."

"... What."

Distracted, Wren put a fingertip to her lips. "It felt dry and uncomfortable. Repulsive, even."

"What did you expect? I-"

"It was my first kiss."

"... Oh... Fantastic." Eric repressed the desire to shudder. _I'm trapped with a junior virgin assassin, I'm just SO happy to be me right now._

"I want to try it again."

"What? No way!" Eric crossed his forearms infront of his face, trying to obstruct her. "I don't think so."

"What you want is irrelevant." Pushing Eric's arms down with one hand, Wren moved in close to kiss him again, then stopped. "Clothes."

Struggling vainly against the chair, in the midst of trying to escape, Eric stared at the crazy girl in his lap. "What?"

"That's the problem; Clothing." Looking down at her bare chest, Wren got up on her knees, putting her hands to her shorts. "Take yours off too."

"WOAH!" Grabbing the girl's wrists, Eric was barely able to keep her from completely stripping down. "No way! Uh-unh! Not gonna happen!"

"Why not?" Wren cocked her head to the side. "Don't you want to feel good?"

Inwardly, Eric winced. _It's almost like arguing with a child. Sure, one that could kill me in a heartbeat, but still. A child._ "It doesn't work that way."

"Why not?"

"Because it just doesn't." Eric searched for the right words, also, he tried not to panic. "Look, it's like the kiss."

"How so?"

"Well, it didn't feel good, right?" Licking his lips, Eric shifted a bit in the pilot's seat, trying to get comfortable. Realizing that that wasn't going to happen, he tried to get less uncomfortable. "Just forcing the situation isn't going to produce any results. Not the ones you want."

"You're the only male I've met who didn't hit me when I tried."

"I... What?" Eric shook his head. "No, wait, nevermind. I think I get it." _Good lord, they beat her? This is suddenly starting to make a lot of disturbing sense._

"... They only hit me until I stopped." Wren seemed to shrink a little, almost folding in on herself.

"Look, you... You don't have to say anymore."

Staring at him silently, the girl hadn't moved an inch.

Swallowing, Eric slowly leaned forward. _I'm so gonna regret this, I'm sure of it._ After an inch or two, he stopped suddenly, restraints creaking. "Oof."

Staring at him for a moment, Wren ducked her head a little. Almost hesitantly, she very slowly moved closer to the boy. Breaths came in fluttery, nervous little gasps, tickling the boy's face. After an agonizing few seconds, their lips met, and she felt her heart stop.

It wasn't romantic. It wasn't even sexual, but she could feel something in the kiss, something... Emotional. He was the first male she'd touched without intent of violence, that wasn't an officer, or a trainer. He was the first to touch her without being ordered to.

Later, when she was alone, after everything was over, she'd decide that her second kiss was infinitely preferable to her first.

But that was later.

There was a sharp _bang_, and an echo fluttered through the shadowy bay the VT had been hidden in. A squeal of static, and her little radio pin beeped. "Exfiltration for two, thirty seconds."

Groping for the pin, Wren licked her lips. Startled at the lingering flavor of Eric that remained, she was silent for a moment.

"Repeat; Thirty seconds on your mark. Respond."

Wren squeezed the little pin. "Copy. Wait ten seconds, then mark. Out." Spinning around on Eric's lap, she felt her toes curl on their own. "Start this thing up, and blow that hatch." Her hands curled around his lap-belt. _He tasted... Sweet._

Startled out of a somewhat dark train of thought, Eric slapped a few buttons. "Cold-starting, going hot." The VT hummed to life, shuddering slightly at the rude awakening. "Time to be bad." Gripping the flight-sticks, he squeezed the trigger.

Outside the colony, a hatch suddenly shook, rocking from repeated impacts before being rapidly holed. A hail of automatic, heavy-caliber gunfire ripped ragged holes into the door, sending a wash of torn metal and atmosphere out into the vacuum of space. After a moment, the hatch burst from its track, gliding away into the black. A large, humanoid shape followed after a moment.

"This is exfiltration zero one, respond."

"Responding, exfiltration zero one."

"Copy. Board now, then secure."

"Copy. Out."

The VT drifted through the black, guided by tiny puffs from its thrust pack. After a few adjustments, it slowly slide into the waiting hatch of a flat, rectangular-shaped vessel. The hatch eased shut, and, after a moment, began to slowly drift away from the colony.


End file.
